Uriah43 "Bud" (John Travolta) is a young man who leaves his home in West Texas to try to find a job at an oil refinery in Houston. One of the first things he does is go to a famous nightclub known as Gilley's where he meets a young woman named "Sissy" (Debra Winger) and they fall for each other immediately. They soon get married and just about every night they go back to Gilley's to have a good time. Then one night the management of the nightclub puts in a mechanical bull and their lives are changed forever. Now if this plot sounds a bit corny that's because it really is. But it manages to capture the flavor of that particular area during that particular time due in large part because of the country music which was so popular back then. No doubt, there are probably plenty of viewers who won't care for this film as it is clearly dated to a specific time in America--and I fully understand that. Be that as it may, it brought back some good memories and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

tcmay-1 I saw it when it came out in 1980, and then several times since then on cable or satellite. A great soundtrack, a pretty good story, and some good performances by Scott Glenn and the others. I'd not liked John Travolta much before (Kotter, Grease, etc.) so this was the first role I thought was "substantial." The Western theme (mixed with Houston astronauts, high tech oil rigs) was appropriate for the 1980s, where Texas was well into the high-tech revolution and yet where "cowboy regalia" was part of the culture.Again, the soundtrack was great. --Tim May, California

SnoopyStyle Bud Davis (John Travolta) is a simple small town kid who moves to Houston and lives with his Uncle Bob (Barry Corbin)'s family. He gets a low level job at the refinery with Bob's help. He starts hanging out at Gilley's Club where he meets Sissy (Debra Winger). They have a fiery combative date and quickly get married. They move into a trailer park. Bud is traditional but Sissy is independent. Bud likes to ride the mechanical bull at Gilley's. Released convict and rodeo bullrider Wes Hightower (Scott Glenn) impresses Sissy with his skills. He teaches her after Bud forbids her to ride.It's hard to like Bud especially at the beginning. It takes awhile for him to build some vulnerability. I never really get to a point where I'm rooting for this couple to stay together. It's the first leading role for Debra Winger and she shows her great feistiness as well as vulnerability. Gilley's is very well represented. That cowboy way is nicely done. It would be great for this movie to be shorter and for Bud to not be so much of a jerk. It would allow for better rooting interest. I don't particularly care who wins or who gets together by the end. Although I definitely want Sissy to get out of her troubled life.

Manth_Sigdaw Hey anyone out there like me? I grew up in Houston during the 80s and 90s but I have never, ever seen this movie all the way through. So I don't have a full review of this film since I haven't completely seen it, but I caught half of it recently on the Country Music Channel and I wanted to review the zeitgeist or vibe this movie represents, especially in relation to Houston. Plus over the years, I always had to put up with out of town visitors that would come visit me in Houston expecting a little small metro area and the fun times we all had were at a local bar/tavern with a freakin' mechanical bull.Actually I moved to Houston from the Midwest when I was 6 years old in 1982, so this movie came out when I was still living up the north but I consider myself a Houstonian. So yeah I can't say if Houston was actually like this movie in 1980, but I can tell you I was in Houston in 1982 and while H-town was more country in the early 80s compared to the late 80s and 90s and after, it still was over exaggerated. I've seen parts of it here and there, and Debra Winger and that other brunette are hot, but this just wasn't my type of movie other then the setting was in Houston the city I mainly grew up in.I always avoided this movie, even as a little kid b/c I knew the national perception of Houston was that we were a honky tonk town and that EVERYONE was some damn mechanical bull riding wannabee cowboy. I recently caught half of the movie (still haven't seen it all the way through) and I heard them call the characters "kickers". So that's where that term comes from!!! When I was a kid in the 80s and in high school in the 90s, there was always a clique of country/redneck types that wore cowboy outfits and they would call themselves "kickers". I had friends in Dallas who would tell me in Dallas they would call themselves "ropers". I like the name "kickers" better myself. Although you could definitely pick up an underlying racist/white trash element to these people, usually they didn't blast it. They weren't going to yell out racial slurs or beat up on anyone who wasn't white, but you could easily pick up the racial discord and big government resentment within these folks. The kickers I knew as a kid (and their parents) tended to be "honorable bigots" if you knew what I mean. They were bigots who had their own honor code, like sort of a more modern version of the "I ain't got nothing' against them, as long as they stay where they supposed to be". Overall, they were actually nice people despite this hee-haw honorable country bigot mentality.I think I might just finally get the Blu-ray/DVD or just order this movie on Netflix and see it all the way through, H-town stereotypes and all.